The Road Goes Ever On
by mezzogal
Summary: [Modern/One shot] Merlin muses on the long years as he takes a bus ride through Britain one lonely night.


**This is just a bit of drabble I wrote tonight as I was feeling very blue and lonely. I hope you like it. Please review. Reviews make me happy.**

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Merlin sat on the hard plastic chair in the Edinburgh bus station and stared at the bus parked before him. Just a few more minutes and it would be 11pm and time to board. The thought did not arouse any kind of emotion in him. He had made the journey up and down Britain millions of times, and though the road had changed over time, the land remained the same.

Perhaps that was why he kept making this pointless pilgrimage up and down the length of the kingdom – it was nice knowing some things did not change in 2,000 years; well, did not change too much anyway.

The driver of the National Express bus had walked over and opened the doors. Merlin gathered his battered backpack containing his few worldly goods – a few changes of clothes, some sentimental knick-knacks and some money – and headed to the vehicle. He presented his ticket and boarded. He made a beeline for his favourite seat, about three-quarters of the way into the bus and settled down.

It was not a crowded bus. People going to London usually preferred to take the train rather than the bone-jarring eight-hour ride through the night. But there were a few other passengers. Merlin spotted a handsome dark-haired man wearing a hoodie and headphones jammed in. A woman with dark curly hair inspected the rest of the passengers then sat herself right in the front row. A pleasant-looking student with blonde hair sat a few rows in front of him. An extremely tall man wearing a black muscle shirt despite the cold.

The bus pulled out of the station smoothly. At that time of night, there was little traffic in the street. Merlin leaned against the window, took off his shoes and propped his feet up on the empty seat next to him. He wrapped himself inside his jacket, turned his head and watched as the city streetlights slowly fell away and the bus entered the open countryside.

The darkness enveloped him. The monotonous humming of the bus engine and the occasional passing vehicle lulled him into a state between sleep and wakefulness. He raised his eyes to see the stars – they were the same stars, though their positions had adjusted slightly since his youth. Glancing at his fellow passengers, he could hear their soft breathing as they dozed. He could see only the backs of their heads and he imagined they were his old friends. It almost felt like being back home.

It was dark outside. So dark that Merlin could barely make out the shapes of the trees. His eyesight had deteriorated over time, as technology both affected his eyes and made it less necessary to have keen sight. But he could feel the spirit of the land. He felt its life and energy. The passing of time meant little to it. How he wished he could be like that. Every year he spent alone weighed heavily on him.

"The road goes ever on and on, out from my door where it began. Not far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow if I can," Merlin whispered, remembering the words of a long-ago writer. "Pursuing it until it meets some larger way where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say." He stopped and sighed heavily. "And whither then?" he breathed sadly.

"But I, at last, with weary feet, will turn towards the lighted inn, my evening-rest and sleep to meet," a voice added.

Merlin looked up in surprise. The blonde student had turned back and was grinning at him. "Tolkien," the student said. "I didn't think you'd heard of that rhyme, must less memorise it. You don't look the reading type."

"And how do I look?" Merlin asked.

"Like a vagrant. I thought you were one initially," the student admitted. "My apologies. I should let you get back to your… whatever it is you do when you ride on buses in the middle of the night."

The student was about to turn away when Merlin asked: "Have you ever lost someone?"

The student paused. "My gran, I guess," he said. "But she died when I was young. I didn't really know her."

"I lost someone," Merlin said. "A good friend. My best friend. Some say the other half of me. It was a long time ago, but sometimes it bubbles back up to the surface, if you know what I mean."

"Sorry to hear that, mate," the student said. "Still, like the pastor says, we'll all be reunited some day."

Merlin nodded. He turned back to his contemplation of the passing trees. He closed his eyes and conjured up the last moments he had with his friends. He pictured the blue of the sky, the silver of the water and the green of the grass.

"The road goes ever on and on," Merlin whispered to himself, allowing the life and energy of the land outside to embrace him. "Over rock and under tree, by caves where never sun has shone, by streams that never find the sea. Under cloud and under star, yet feet that wandering have gone, turn at last to home afar. Eyes that fire and sword have seen, and horror in the halls of stone, look at last on meadows green, and trees and hills they long have known."

When the bus turned into London's Victoria Coach Station the next morning, the blonde student gathered his things and prepared to get off the bus. He turned, perhaps to say a last goodbye to the man he spoke to in the night. But there was no one there. He shuddered, wondering if the man had been a ghost. But he gave a quick salute in the direction of the man's seat. "Good luck, mate," he said. He then turned, got off the bus and was lost amid the bustle of the city.

THE END

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 _Credit to J.R.R. Tolkien for the beautiful The Road Goes Ever On poem._


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